Dear Dan: While nobody wants to see anyone that is truly impacted by the virus put out on the streets, the entire burden for keeping the public housed cannot be forced upon the backs of individual citizens. Housing is an essential service. Who else is forced to provide an essential service for free? Nurses, grocery…
DetailsWhether you have a home, triplex or 150 units, we all have that one leasing story. For most of us it has worked out okay. One client took a risk with a foreign engineering student despite having no credit history and not being able to verify the international banking statements. This tenant turned out to…
DetailsI wanted to address some of the questions and concerns I’ve been getting recently about the effect the Coronavirus is going to have on real estate investors and their businesses. I’ve talked with a number of investors recently and they are worried. Today, I have some survival tips for real estate investors during this crisis.
How to Get Where You Want to Go: Have a Plan Scott Adams, the Dilbert cartoonist, wrote that goals are specific objectives that you either achieve or don’t sometime in the future. That’s different from a system. A system is something that you regularly do that increases the probability of reaching your goal. Losing twenty…
DetailsQuestion 1: I own a single-family home in Oakland with tenants on a month-to-month basis. The tenant has been there more than a year. Can I still legally raise the rent? Answer 1: While nearly every aspect of residential tenancy life is currently being changed by legislative responses to the COVID 19-related states of emergency,…
DetailsI debated long and hard with myself regarding whether to tackle the very sensitive subject I will discuss below. I had decided not to write what follows. But [then] I changed my mind and decided to go ahead with it, controversial as it is, because whatever decision our leaders make just ahead on the coronavirus…
Details“San Diego apartment buildings are outrageously expensive! The cash flow is wretched. What do you think about going to the 40 other states with dramatically higher cash flow and lower prices?” The experienced landlady was asking me whether her son should use his $80,000 and buy a fourplex in Arizona or somewhere else where the…
DetailsA new survey indicates that one in four Americans were not able to pay their April housing bill in full, according to Apartment List. The survey showed half of those respondents were able to make a partial payment to their lender or landlord, while the other half made no payment at all. And one in…
DetailsOn April 6, 2020, the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the California Courts, approved and adopted emergency rules regarding evictions. Although Governor Newsom and cities such as Los Angeles had previously enacted orders, these new rules supersede existing laws regarding the filing of unlawful detainer actions. Under the new California Rules of Court,…
DetailsAs most of you are aware, in 2016, HUD released guidance for all housing providers regarding how the use of criminal background checks could potentially violate fair housing laws. The guidance outlines how using criminal background screening to deny housing can create a disparate impact (discriminatory effect) based on race due to the higher incarceration…
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